Global S&T Development Trend Analysis Platform of Resources and Environment
DOI | 10.1126/science.abd5942 |
Smoke pollution's impacts in Amazonia | |
Gabriel de Oliveira; Jing M. Chen; Scott C. Stark; Erika Berenguer; Paulo Moutinho; Paulo Artaxo; Liana O. Anderson; Luiz E. O. C. Aragão | |
2020-08-07 | |
发表期刊 | Science
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出版年 | 2020 |
英文摘要 | The combination of increasing Amazon deforestation and the specter of drought now threatens widespread fire and respiratory health risks that could worsen the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, endangering all Amazonians, but particularly vulnerable traditional and rural peoples ([ 1 ][1], [ 2 ][2]).
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon between January and June (3070 km2) was 25% higher than it was during the same period in 2019 (2446 km2) and 46% higher than the 4-year average of January through June from 2016 to 2019 (2108 km2) ([ 3 ][3]). Within Indigenous lands, which make up 23% of the Brazilian Amazon ([ 4 ][4]), deforestation quadrupled in the past 4 years (from 105 km2 in 2016 to 497 km2 in 2019) ([ 5 ][5]). Fire is intrinsic to the deforestation process—forest is left to dry after cutting and then burned to prepare for agriculture. The majority of deforested land in 2020, and 45% of the trees cut in 2019, has remained unburned ([ 4 ][4]). Between July and December this year, under dry conditions, most of this land will be set ablaze ([ 6 ][6]).
Current indices predict a severe western Amazon drought in mid- to late 2020 ([ 2 ][2]). In drought years, deforestation fires often escape into surrounding forest understories. The smoke arising in large quantities from both deforestation and understory fires is extremely toxic, causing shortness of breath, coughing, and lung damage. Fires in the Amazon are responsible for 80% of increases in fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) regionally, affecting 24 million Amazonians ([ 7 ][7]). The likely relationship between air pollutants linked to fire, such as PM2.5, and COVID-19 infection ([ 8 ][8], [ 9 ][9]) suggests that fire could aggravate the current COVID-19 crisis in Amazonia, where infection rates are already high (1 in 100 in June) ([ 10 ][10]). Indigenous peoples are at particular risk, given that they are currently suffering COVID-19 mortality rates that are 1.5 times the Brazil-wide average ([ 11 ][11]).
To avoid a combination of smoke and COVID-19 that could be catastrophic, Brazil must repeat in 2020 its past successes as an international leader curbing deforestation and fire ([ 12 ][12]). A moratorium on deforestation and associated burning in at-risk areas and strong enforcement from current infrastructure are urgently needed.
1. [↵][13]1. J. Barlow,
2. E. Berenguer,
3. R. Carmenta,
4. F. França
, Glob. Chang. Biol. 26, 319 (2020).
[OpenUrl][14]
2. [↵][15]1. L. E. O. C. Aragão,
2. C. H. L. Silva Junior,
3. L. O. Anderson
, “Brazil's challenge to restrain deforestation and fires in the Amazon during COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: Environmental, social implications and their governance” (Tech. Rep. National Institute for Space Research, 2020).
3. [↵][16]TerraBrasilis, DETER (Notices), Analyses—Legal Amazon (2020); |
领域 | 气候变化 ; 资源环境 |
URL | 查看原文 |
引用统计 | |
文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/287972 |
专题 | 气候变化 资源环境科学 |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Gabriel de Oliveira,Jing M. Chen,Scott C. Stark,et al. Smoke pollution's impacts in Amazonia[J]. Science,2020. |
APA | Gabriel de Oliveira.,Jing M. Chen.,Scott C. Stark.,Erika Berenguer.,Paulo Moutinho.,...&Luiz E. O. C. Aragão.(2020).Smoke pollution's impacts in Amazonia.Science. |
MLA | Gabriel de Oliveira,et al."Smoke pollution's impacts in Amazonia".Science (2020). |
条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 |
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